Elev8-DESK is now supporting secondary students to begin learning an additional language. Our Introductory French 11 and Introductory Spanish 11 courses bring the opportunity to learn and practice foundational skills. Through social phrases and vocabulary that support travel, friendship and employment, learners can begin building the groundwork for lifelong multilingual learning. Did you know that adolescent learners are still within the ideal developmental window to aim toward fluency? Running counter to trends of “cognitive offloading” through technology, language learning supports self-reflective brain-building by enhancing concentration, memory, creativity and communication skills. Alongside these detailed and engaging digital courses, our humanities teacher, Andrea Mann, supports learners to develop future visions and personal practices that foster courage, confidence, and continued growth over time. Having learned languages since childhood, Andrea is committed to linguistic and cultural learning as a way of life. With French and Spanish as her most developed additional languages she has also been learning n̓syilxčn̓ (Interior Salish) and Siksikai’powahsini (Blackfoot) through community and land-based relationships over the past number of years. With the conviction that every human culture holds unique and beautiful ways of knowing, Andrea invites learners to embark on a connective adventure toward making their own multilingual discoveries and meaning.